Catalyst Foundation

The mission of The Catalyst Foundation is to Create a Healing Society

Under this umbrella, we are dedicated to decreasing the impact of unhealed emotional pain and trauma (from childhood abuse, neglect, and other difficult life situations) on society and the world through direct service, public education, advocacy, policy reform, and empowerment of directly affected and disenfranchised groups. We are also dedicated to improving the health and well-being of low-income, uninsured, and homeless persons through high-quality, compassionate medical care, mental health services, health education, and supportive social services.

VISION
The Catalyst Foundation works each day to serve and embrace the marginalized, disenfranchised and often invisible in our society.

One of the most unique aspects of The Catalyst Foundation is our recognition of emotional trauma as the root cause of health and societal problems. Each person served in our clinic, our healing center, and in each of our programs is guided through a questionnaire based on the ACE study. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, is one of the largest investigations ever conducted on the links between childhood trauma and later-life health and well-being. www.acestudy.org
The Catalyst Foundation is one of the only clinics worldwide using an ACE Study based and trauma-informed system of primary medical care, mental health services, social services/basic needs, and health education/prevention programs.

Over the years, our scope and services have expanded beyond our founding focus of serving people with AIDS to include providing compassionate primary medical care and supportive services to the poor and to those living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C through our Bartz-Altadonna Memorial Clinic in Lancaster, California. From our clinic, located in the rural high desert of Los Angeles County, we also operate a food pantry and provide case management. But that’s not all. We offer an array of transformative programming including art, meditation and yoga and conduct vigorous outreach and prevention services for incarcerated and at-risk youth and for the community in general.
The Catalyst Foundation is one of the only clinics worldwide using an ACE Study based and trauma-informed system of primary medical care, mental health services, social services/basic needs, and health education/prevention programs.

Over the years, our scope and services have expanded beyond our founding focus of serving people with AIDS to include providing compassionate primary medical care and supportive services to the poor and to those living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C through our Bartz-Altadonna Memorial Clinic in Lancaster, California. From our clinic, located in the rural high desert of Los Angeles County, we also operate a food pantry and provide case management. But that’s not all. We offer an array of transformative programming including art, meditation and yoga and conduct vigorous outreach and prevention services for incarcerated and at-risk youth and for the community in general.

Founded in 1992 by Susan Lawrence, M.D., the first medical professional to serve people with AIDS in the Antelope Valley, and her husband Sonny Bartz, who died of AIDS the following year.

Dr. Lawrence was inspired by Sonny’s deathbed realization that he was “not dying of AIDS, but of the delayed effects of child abuse.” His words profoundly impacted Dr. Lawrence's world view, and she found scientific support for Sonny's intuitive sense that the lifestyle choices and intravenous drug use that led to his contracting the AIDS virus were in fact rooted in the effects of childhood abuse and trauma. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study is a Centers for Disease Control & Kaiser Permanente study that links childhood trauma to later-life health/well-being. The Catalyst Foundation guides each person we serve through an ACE-based questionnaire and is one of the only organizations worldwide using ACE-based trauma-informed systems of medical care, mental health, social services/basic needs, and health education/prevention programs.

The Catalyst Foundation now serves people living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, the homeless, the impoverished, the formerly incarcerated and the uninsured through our clinic, mental health services and participant services divisions. Our Bartz-Altadonna Community Health Center provides high quality compassionate medical care, The Catalyst Foundation Healing Center for Adults Recovering from Childhood Abuse and Other Life Traumas offers mental health services, art, meditation, and yoga, and The Catalyst Foundation Prevention and Outreach Services provide testing, awareness and education related to HIV/AIDS and prevention services for incarcerated and at-risk youth. The Catalyst Foundation Participant Services include food pantry, case management, and a community garden which has been made possible by partnering with the City of Lancaster in their UNITE neighborhoods program.

Winds of Change Art Auction & Benefit Concert

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

The Catalyst Foundation Supportive Services / Basic Needs food program provides 12,000 nutritionally sound, frozen meals and 11,000 bags of non-prepared food to our clients and their families each year, including those with dependent children.

The food pantry ensures those served are provided with compassionate care while looking beyond the immediate need to the root cause of the problem. The goal of all Supportive Services is to enhance the stability and quality of life for the individuals and families we serve.

The Catalyst Foundation is dedicated to delivery of quality care and service to the disenfranchised in our midst. We are dedicated to decreasing the impact of unhealed emotional pain and trauma (from childhood abuse, neglect, and other difficult life situations) on society and the world through direct service, public education, advocacy, policy reform, and empowerment of directly affected and disenfranchised groups. In our community, we are also dedicated to improving the health and well-being of low-income, uninsured, and homeless persons through high-quality, compassionate medical care, health education and supportive services.

Supportive services office hours: M-F, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Volunteers are needed MONDAY - TUESDAY - THURSDAY

Contact Julia 661-948-8559 x 131 with any questions or to confirm

REQUIREMENTS:

To load and unload foodstuffs, to prepare and assist participants with grocery bags, to move and inventory food items, this responsible volunteer will need to be able to lift heavy boxes of canned goods, bags of food stuffs, and large bags of pet foods for distribution to the homeless and impoverished whom we serve. Must also have: Strong desire to help Commitment to excellence Sense of Humor Ability to lift up to 50 lbs Ability to drive locally to pick up donated food.

To pick up, load and unload foodbank foods and materials every other Monday, this dedicated volunteer must have a reliable registered and insured vehicle and valid California Drivers' License.

To serve The Catalyst Foundation food pantry participants, this exceptional volunteer must have a caring, cheerful personality and the ability to offer exceptional service to all. The Catalyst Foundation serves the homeless, the impoverished, the formerly incarcerated, people with HIV AIDS and HepC, and the marginalized in the Antelope Valley. Our participants have suffered trauma and abuse and our services help them overcome the overarching issues at the root of their current situation and related to their past suffering while addressing their immediate needs. This exceptional volunteer opportunity provides person to person commitment to service and positive change.

Julia Robinson Shimizu, Director of Development The Catalyst Foundation ~ Creating a Healing Society

Phone:    (661) 948-8559 x 131 julia@catalystfdn.org